


Your Roadblocks

by TB_Anon_meme



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 15:17:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20762492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TB_Anon_meme/pseuds/TB_Anon_meme
Summary: Prompt: Kotetsu's feelings after the series when fans start complaining that Wild Tiger is holding Barnaby back from being in the First League.Can be romantic or not, I just want hurts.Author: AnonFrom T&B Anon Meme on dreamwidth





	Your Roadblocks

It started with some posts on the HeroTV forums, nothing too major. There were a couple of posts on one board, a couple more on another, mentioning how Barnaby should be with the main heroes. 

Kotetsu shrugged it off because he knew that inevitably, there would be fans that felt like that. There were fans that thought Barnaby should be with the others, that Wild Tiger should be with the others, that Rock Bison should be in Second League, and so on. It was nothing but some people just posting their preferences, and he needn’t be bothered by it. 

It got worse, though. 

There were statistics – from somewhere, all Kotetsu knew was that it showed up on the news – that showed interest in the duo had begun to fail. Interviews with fans, more postings on the forum and on the internet in general began to insist Barnaby should work on his own. He had to tailor his acts around Kotetsu’s time limit and usually he was saving his ass, instead of winning points, being cool.

Sometimes Barnaby gave points to the other heroes because of Kotetsu. If Kotetsu was falling? Barnaby would abandon what he was doing so he could rush and catch him, which meant someone like Blue Rose could swoop in. If he was in any kind of danger Barnaby would help him, even if one of the others could save him – and they would. They were friends, and refused to leave anyone in a tough spot. 

Still, Barnaby always put Kotetsu first.

He lost points, camera time, and had a slight decline in popularity – however, people still loved him enough that they wanted to see more of him, and much less of Tiger.

Kotetsu was learning that as fan letters began to poor in to Barnaby and he snuck a peak at a few that insisted Barnaby leave Wild Tiger behind and move on. There was certainly pressure from the higher-ups too. A young hero with a huge fan base should have the spotlight on himself, not his older partner.

What made it almost worse was their relationship.

Barnaby would always be the one giving up his points to rescue Kotetsu because they were dating, and had been for a couple months at that point. He would always be held back by that, and it left Kotetsu not knowing if he was best for Barnaby, while torn over his own anguish.

Sometimes he wondered why he hadn’t stayed in retirement.

Things were bearable until they left an interview one night. Barnaby waved to everyone, Kotetsu did too, and they both tried to ignore fans and reporters yelling to them as they got out of the building.

“Mr. Brooks! Mr. Brooks what do you say to the claim that Wild Tiger has been holding you back!?”

And then it was more real.

“What?” Barnaby asked, though he kept walking.

“Fans have been crying out for you to move up, and let Wild Tiger stay in Second League!” the reporter expanded, trying to get close enough to stick his microphone in Barnaby’s face. Security held him back, but they couldn’t silence the people yelling in agreement in the background.

Kotetsu didn’t comment, letting Barnaby control it all. “Well, I’m happy where I am,” Barnaby said simply.

“But if you moved up, you wouldn’t have to worry about Tiger’s time limit and you could really shine! At least, that’s what the fans are saying,” the reporter added a little quieter, because he had definitely crossed a line in Barnaby’s eyes.

Barnaby shot him a death glare. “He is my partner. I refuse to work without him.”

The reporter said nothing else, and Kotetsu was relieved when they got into the chauffeured car that had taken them there. Kotetsu directed it to drop them off near his apartment. He never gave the exact address, since no one needed to know where Wild Tiger lived – even if the guy worked for HeroTV.

He was reserved during the ride. Kotetsu had a lot of worries. He worried about his powers finally slipping away, he worried about his daughter, he worried about Barnaby who still had his terrible nightmares and at times, panic attacks. HeroTV popularity wasn’t at the top of the list, but it had begun to bug him more and more.

It wasn’t so much the fans – what if he really was holding Barnaby back?

That wasn’t okay. He wanted Barnaby to have the best life he could, which meant the hero business as well. 

They arrived at Kotetsu’s place soon enough, another apartment with a loft that he had secured right before coming back from Oriental Town. It was larger and cleaner than the last place, warmer too. He didn’t live anywhere near the gold stage like Barnaby, but he was comfortable.

“You’re so quiet,” Barnaby said, taking off his coat and starting to undo his boots.

“Ah, it’s nothing, I’m tired,” Kotetsu said and then cringed. He said it far too fast.

Barnaby stopped with his boots, glared up at Kotetsu, and then returned to them. “That’s not true. There’s something.”

“Well…”

“You’re upset about what the reporter said.”

Damn. “Well, yea, I mean…”

“Kotetsu, don’t worry about that. Fans say shit like that all the time.”

“They’ve been saying it a lot!” Kotetsu was unbuttoning his vest, eager to get out of his everyday clothing and into something comfier. “Not just tonight Bunny. It’s been on the forums, and in your letters, and other things.”

“You read my letters?”

Kotetsu shrugged. “They’re just fan letters.”

Barnaby just nodded back and worked on his boots. They always took him a little while to get out of, even though Kotetsu was sure that after wearing them for so many years he would have developed a faster method. “Then you should listen to what you just said. They are just fan letters.”

While he understood perfectly what Barnaby was saying, Kotetsu refused to agree. “Yea and the fans are who we have to do this for. I’d be a hero regardless, but to do it, and to earn a living, we have to please those people. And…I’m not.”

“Kotetsu,” Barnaby sighed, and there was certainly a lecture incoming.

Kotetsu didn’t want to hear it so he tossed his vest into the living room where it just barely missed landing on the couch. Oh well. He didn’t care so much about picking it up, he didn’t have the energy. He felt horrible.

It was likely that in addition to knowing that once again, he was unwanted, he also knew he was irritating Barnaby. When he felt down on himself in regards to silly things or got fixated on a very tiny problem that didn’t even deserve attention in the first place, Barnaby would groan and scold him. 

Kotetsu walked away and headed for the bathroom. He needed to take something for the headache that was starting to pound away at his brain. There was nothing else he could say about the situation because no matter what he felt guilty for Barnaby’s current position and he felt like he’d gone back in time a little. The feelings that had started to consume him before meeting Barnaby were threatening to flare back up.

He had turned on the light to his small bathroom and had opened the cabinet when Barnaby appeared in the doorway. Of course he would follow him. “Kotetsu.”

“What?” he asked and opened up a bottle. 

“Kotetsu, stop.”

“Stop what?”

“For one, stop acting around me. You’re supposed to be honest with me, especially now that we’re a couple.” Barnaby’s cheeks burned red, as he was still learning to refer to them as a couple, lovers, an item. It was still so new to him.

It was also adorable. But Kotetsu couldn’t focus on that. “Ah, okay.”

“Stop beating yourself up. I know that’s what you’re doing.”

Kotetsu looked away from him, threw back two small pills, and hoped they would help. “You would be better off working without me.”

Saying that was a big mistake.

Barnaby’s lips were set in a tight line, his eyes burning into Kotetsu’s head and the very air felt tense, uncomfortable. “Stop it.”

Well, he’d already fucked up. “I won’t, Bunny, because we both now you would be fantastic with the First League! More chances for points, less worrying about me, more publicity, more everything!”

“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?”

Kotetsu stared down at the sink, shocked by those words. Then he turned and rushed past Barnaby, practically shoving him out of the way as he stormed toward the bedroom. He could get his things and sleep on the couch because he was pretty sure that’s where he was headed even if it was his apartment.

“Hey, get back here!” Barnaby demanded and followed him again.

Kotetsu ignored him, got into the bedroom, and started deciding what pajama pants to take down with him. He wanted to get out of what he’d been wearing all day, wanted to get into something else, maybe get some beer and take his mind to another planet entirely as well. 

It felt like every time something was going well for him, life had a way of reminding him never to feel too happy.

“Kotetsu! Don’t ignore me!” Barnaby continued on, storming into the bedroom – and closing the door behind him, trapping his worried partner.

“Why would you want to waste your breath on the ‘fucking idiot’?” he asked, knowing Barnaby hadn’t really meant it. But he was upset. He was feeling a little numb, even.

“Let me explain.”

“Why?”

“Kotetsu even if I worked in the First League I would still worry about you! Damn, how hard is that to see!?” He’d raised his voice substantially, looking angry.

“Oh, so you couldn’t move on because of pity?” 

“I – no! Why are you being so ridiculous about this?”

“Have you even noticed the shit that seems to happen to me?” Kotetsu was holding onto a pair of pajama pants he’d gotten from his messy dresser, and he backed onto his equally messy bed in the dim room. It was only a matter of turning up the lamp, but he couldn’t do it. He just sat down, feeling defeated. “Every time something good is happening, something bad happens too. Tomoe, then – then me hitting the point where I was totally useless, right before I met you – my powers, just…” He looked down at the stupid pants, feeling pathetic. He wanted to cry, but he couldn’t seem to summon up any tears.

He felt borderline blank. Empty.

“Okay, but things are going well for you now. Kotetsu, some assholes saying you ‘hold me back’ isn’t the bad thing that’s going to happen, if such a thing has to happen. I’ll try my best to make sure it doesn’t…Anyway!” He sat down next to Kotetsu, a long sigh leaving him. “You need to listen to me,” he stressed. “Really listen, because this is important, and I will not have you feeling sad at the end of the day because you feel guilty, or unimportant.”

Kotetsu forgot sometimes how well Barnaby knew him, because those were the things he could feel, as he tried to break out of that numb feeling that had settled on him. “Okay.” 

Barnaby threaded his fingers through Kotetsu’s hair. “I can’t say it enough, that you’re not holding me back. I’m happy. The public may think I’m not getting enough points or enough of the spotlight, but I’m fucking happy for once, because of you.” 

“I…see…”

“Who cares what they think? Other than Agnes.” He said her name with venom in her voice. She had not been helpful about the ordeal at all. “You would be holding me back if you were making me unhappy, if you were controlling me, if you were guilting me into staying in Second League.”

“On some level, I must be, though. When we’re involved like this, romantically, it makes it harder for you to break away from me as far as work goes.” God, even just saying that made him feel a sharp pain in his chest.

Okay. He hadn’t gone numb after all.

“It does,” Barnaby agreed. “But it does not bother me. I want to be there with you. That’s the bottom of all this, Kotetsu, I want to be there. As long as I’m doing what I want, you can’t be holding me back, don’t you see?” He stopped with his fingers and leaned his head on Kotetsu’s shoulder.

His head was a comfortable, warm weight, and Kotetsu began to relax a little. Barnaby was never ever one to be dishonest. Kotetsu knew that. The last thing Barnaby would do was claim he was happy when he wasn’t, and a lot of what he said did make sense.

It didn’t get rid of the guilt, but it was making him feel better. It really was hard to hold back someone when they were right where they wanted to be. Regardless… “I still, I can’t seem to shake what people say, even if I never cared before.”

“You care now because it has to do with me.” Barnaby paused, shifting closer to Kotetsu. “You need to ignore them. They’ll move onto some other concern, or be entitled brats about lives that aren’t theirs. I will never, ever stop being your partner.”

“I know…”

“I love you, Kotetsu. I would rather be the one who catches you or has to pull you out of some debris than anyone else. It’s – it’s kind of like it’s my responsibility, and I refuse to pass it on.”

Kotetsu wasn’t sure he liked the wording, but he understood. He always wanted Barnaby safe but felt much better when he was the one keeping him safe. It felt good in a way, to be so protective of someone like that, wanting to be their prince and their light. 

That really was what they were to each other…

“I understand…”

“But you don’t feel better.”

Kotetsu closed his eyes. “Only a little. It’s hard to just accept that it’s all okay. And the way they press on makes it harder to ignore.”

“You know, if they knew we were a thing, they would be screaming at us to stay together always, who cares if I’m being 'held back' or not.”

Kotetsu’s eyes flew open and his blood ran cold. “Uh, come out to everyone?”

“Uh-huh. Maybe not right now, but, we will eventually, right?”

Kotetsu turned his head, making Barnaby move his so he could see him. “Yes, but should we use it in…that…way?”

“I wouldn’t say we’re using it. If we’re going to say it anyway, it’s going to happen. I guess we would be taking advantage, technically speaking. It’s not doing anything wrong or undermining our relationship – right?” His eyes offered that confused innocence Kotetsu saw every so often. Barnaby had never been with anyone before, and sometimes he wasn’t sure how everything worked, what could invalidate what, how signals could be mixed. So far he had done just fine, with little correcting.

Barnaby preferred to think things out and be logical, but his emotions could definitely take the wheel, as proved with his previous escapes through roofs. Lately, they’d been steering him more and more, but not in the bad way. Barnaby followed his heart like he never really had before, and that path included opening himself up more to Kotetsu, being affectionate, willing to listen and ready to do what he could to make the older man happy, even if it was silly sometimes.

“Right,” he finally agreed, and kissed Barnaby’s soft cheek. That little contact helped calm him immensely. “Well, we can come out when we come out…for now, I’ll try to brush that stuff off easier. I used to be able to ignore stuff like that, years ago, I just gotta do it again…”

“Do it for my sake, will that help?”

“It does, even though I was letting them get to me for your sake to begin with.”

“That’s dumb, Kotetsu.” It wasn’t said harshly like earlier, and Barnaby looked at ease, normal, maybe even satisfied? “If you want to do things for my sake, don’t worry about it, don’t mentally punish yourself because that upsets me.”

“Yea…”

“You will try, right?”

Kotetsu blinked and straightened up. “Of course! It won’t be easy.”

“Talk to me when it feels overwhelming.” Barnaby turned his body to the side to give Kotetsu a hug. “Please. I want you to.”

“I will.” He really would try. Kotetsu didn’t want to feel like he used to, not ever again. Being on the verge of giving up had been a nasty, nasty feeling. He knew it would never get that bad with Barnaby at his side. And to keep Barnaby there, he had to be honest with him. “I love you, Bunny.”

“I know.”

If he hadn’t taken those pills, he was sure his head would be throbbing in awful pain. It didn’t matter, though. Barnaby was lying back, pulling Kotetsu down to the bed with him. Nothing sounded better than sinking into the bed and Barnaby’s arms.

Perhaps upon waking up with him, Kotetsu would feel more prepared to handle the days ahead.


End file.
